Here’s everything new coming to CBC Gem in October 2021, including these shows highlighted by ourcritics.

Diggstown (Season 3)

The new season of CBC’s Halifax-set legal drama—starring Vinessa Antoine as corporate lawyer turned East Coast advocate Marcie Diggs—pivots to what’s being described as “a post-COVID society,” meaning the characters are reckoning with all the ugly truths exposed by the pandemic. Trickster’s Crystle Lightning, Dear White People’s Antoinette Robinson, and Van Helsing’s Nicole Muñoz join Antoine and returning regulars Natasha Henstridge, C. David Johnson, and Brandon Oakes. Wednesdays from October 6

What’s Your Ailment?! With Maria Bamford

It may sound like an especially awkward game show, but this Topic series is actually a talk show in which the wonderful Bamford (Lady Dynamite)—who’s made her mental health an essential part of her work—has thoughtful conversations with guests like Rachel Bloom, Tom Arnold, Jen Kirkman, Tig Notaro, Andy Kindler, Aparna Nancherla, about their own issues. October 1

Sort Of

Bilal Baig stars in (and cocreated) this landmark comedy, Canada’s first television series with a non-binary lead. They play Sabi, a gender-fluid millennial working as a nanny in Toronto who’s offered the chance to move to Berlin with their best friend 7even (Amanda Cordner), only to wind up facing an unexpected challenge here at home. Writer Glenn Sumi called the show “sharp, witty and literate”; the entire first season is rolling out on Gem ahead of its broadcast debut on CBC Television in November. October 5

The Great Canadian Baking Show (Season 5)

Ann Pornel and Alan Shane Lewis return as hosts alongside veteran judges Bruno Feldeisen and Kyle Kennaley for an eight-episode season, with 10 new contestants including a Toronto graphic designer, a Westmoreland paralegal, a Regina health administrator, and a Richmond, B.C., occupational therapist. Details are hush-hush, of course, but we do know that the title of the first episode is Cake Week. So, cake! Sundays from October 17

A Suitable Boy

Mira Nair’s landmark BBC miniseries is an expensive, elaborate adaptation of Vikram Seth’s 1993 novel and the first such production to feature an almost entirely South Asian cast, meaning Seth’s expansive tale of people finding their way in a newly partitioned nation is told through the eyes and experiences of Indian characters, rather than from a colonial perspective that exoticizes or marginalizes the locals. Tanya Maniktala stars as Lata, a student determined not to let her traditional mother (Mahira Kakkar) choose her husband and therefore her future, while Ishaan Khatter plays Maan—whose brother has just married Lata’s sister—who rebels against his politically connected family by falling for a ghazal singer (Tabu) who’s considerably older than him. Sundays from October 17

The full list of new titles available on CBC Gem in October 2021 by date:

October 1

Call The Midwife (season 8)
Jamie Cooks Italy
The Office (UK series, season 1)
Ripper Street (season 2)
There Are No Fakes
What’s Your Ailment?! (season 1)

October 4

Murdoch Mysteries (new episode)

October 5

Moonshine (new episode)
Strays (new episode)
This Hour Has 22 Minutes (new episode)

October 6

Diggstown (season 3 premiere)
War of the Worlds (season 2 premiere)

October 8

Firecrackers

October 11

Murdoch Mysteries (new episode)

October 12

Moonshine (new episode)
Strays (new episode)
This Hour Has 22 Minutes (new episode)

October 13

Diggstown (new episode)
War of the Worlds (new episode)

October 15

Daughter
R.L. Stine’s The Haunting Hour (season 3)
Sherlock (season 2)

October 17

The Great Canadian Baking Show (season 5 premiere)
A Suitable Boy (premiere)
Writing The Land

October 18

Murdoch Mysteries (new episode)

October 19

Moonshine (new episode)
Strays (new episode)
This Hour Has 22 Minutes (new episode)

October 20

Diggstown (new episode)
War of the Worlds (new episode)

October 21

Dragons’ Den (Season 16 premiere)

October 22

Diego Star
Fatima In Kabul
Smother (season 1)

October 24

The Great Canadian Baking Show (new episode)
A Suitable Boy (new episode)

October 25

Murdoch Mysteries (new episode)

October 26

Moonshine (new episode)
Strays (new episode)
This Hour Has 22 Minutes (new episode)

October 27

Diggstown (new episode)
War of the Worlds (new episode)

October 28

Dragons’ Den (new episode)

October 29

Dreamland: The Burning Of Black Wall Street
Felicia’s Journey
Grand Designs: New Zealand (season 4)
PEN15 Animated Special
R.L. Stine’s The Haunting Hour (season 4)
Smother (season 1)

October 31

The Great Canadian Baking Show (new episode)
A Suitable Boy (new episode)